Architecture for orchestrating promotional services

ABSTRACT

The promotional orchestration engine includes a services engine that provides transactional responses to a user&#39;s request, such as informational results being returned to the user or request for further actions that will be forwarded. An analysis engine stores data and provides tactical and strategic level analysis. The analysis engine uses transactional data generated by the services engine to abstract knowledge and consolidate and aggregate such information. The learning engine is a mechanism by which the promotional orchestration engine adapts itself to changing conditions. The learning engine preferably customizes various components of the services engine and components of the analysis engine. The learning engine causes the services engine to present different information over time so as to keep the system fresh. From a user&#39;s standpoint, the learning engine allows components of the services engine to be personalized to the particular user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/472,950, filed May 22, 2003, and U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. ______, filed ______, entitled “RULES PROCESSOR,” whichare incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to an architecture fororchestrating drug sample distribution, and more particularly, to thedesign of software relating to drug sample promotion incorporatingprotocols and means for expansion and interfacing with other systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] After the FDA has approved a drug, a pharmaceutical companypromotes the drug the old-fashioned way using face-to-face (personal)selling. Sales representatives of the pharmaceutical company visit oneor more prescribers, leave behind drug samples of the drug, and hopethat the prescribers will prescribe these drug samples to theirpatients. As the costs of personal selling have risen, the utilizationof sales representatives has changed. With the proliferation ofnetworking technology, many prescribers are members of onlinecommunities where promotion and distribution of drug samples can beaccomplished without the use of sales representatives.

[0004] A drug sample fulfillment platform developed by MedManageSystems, Inc., is a system for facilitating the distribution of drugsamples with/without the use of sales representatives. The drug samplefulfillment platform is tailored based on the brand rules established bythe brand manager for each drug. Using the drug sample fulfillmentplatform, the brand manager can select which prescribers are authorizedto order the drug sample of a brand via a fulfillment platform and theservices provided thereon, the forms of drug samples they can access,and the drug sample quantity and delivery method. The drug samplefulfillment platform can be configured to allow a prescriber to requestphysical samples delivered via common carrier. Requests for suchphysical samples are electronically communicated (including facsimilecommunications) to the pharmaceutical company designated fulfillmentvendors that pick, pack, and ship physical samples to the requestingprescriber's office. Using this method, prescribers no longer need torely on sales representatives to deliver physical samples.

[0005] To obtain either physical samples or pre-printed vouchers, theprescriber prints one or more order form from a drug sample Web site,signs the order forms, and faxes them a designated fulfillment vendor.The pharmaceutical company specifies a fulfillment vendor (whose faxnumber is printed on the order form) to which the prescriber faxes thesigned order form to obtain physical samples and/or pre-printed vouchersas applicable. While the drug sample fulfillment platform has helped tocontrol the rising costs of personal selling, much of its functionalityrequires manual work done by hand. For example, the prescriber has toprint, sign, and fax an order form for drug samples to a fulfillmentvendor. Thus, there is a need for an architecture to orchestrate drugsample distribution while avoiding or reducing the foregoing and otherproblems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] In accordance with this invention, a system and method forpromoting pharmaceutical drugs is provided. The system form of theinvention includes a system for promoting pharmaceutical drugs, whichcomprises a computer-implemented drug closet for a prescriber. Thecomputer-implemented drug closet displays a number of drug samplesavailable to the prescriber to distribute to a patient. The systemfurther includes a promotional orchestration engine for responding to arequest by the prescriber to distribute a drug sample to the patient viathe computer-implemented drug closet. The promotional orchestrationengine replenishes the number of drug samples in thecomputer-implemented drug closet according to a set of rules fordistributing drug samples to the prescriber. The system furthercomprises recruiting Web services for executing the set of rules todiscover the prescriber as a candidate for prescribing drug samples. TheWeb services is capable of interacting with the prescriber when theprescriber is logged on to an on-line portal to recruit the prescriberto order the drug samples. The system further comprises acomputer-implemented drug closet for a health plan. Thecomputer-implemented drug closet includes drug samples, information, andsupplies. The system further comprises an electronic voucher that isgenerated when the prescriber selects a drug sample from hiscomputer-implemented drug closet to provide to the patient, theelectronic voucher being automatically sent to a pharmarcy forprocessing so as to distribute the drug sample to the patient. Thesystem further comprises a customization component for customizing thedrug samples in the computer-implemented drug closet depending on thepreferences and the behaviors of the prescriber over time in using thecomputer-implemented drug closet.

[0007] In accordance with further aspects of this invention, the systemform of the invention includes a system for orchestrating drug sampledistribution, which comprises a services engine for fulfillingtransaction requests by a prescriber to access services. The systemfurther includes an analysis engine for executing a set of rulesassociated with a service requested by the prescriber. The set of rulesdefines whether the prescriber can prescribe a particular drug sample,its dosage, and its form. The system yet further includes a learningengine for adapting the services in the services engine and the set ofrules in the analysis engine for customizing information associated withservices accessed by the prescriber so that the information appears asif it were personalized to the prescriber.

[0008] In accordance with further aspects of this invention, the methodform of the invention comprises a method for orchestrating a drug samplepromotional campaign, which includes receiving a request by a user toaccess a service. The method further includes recording the request byan analysis engine. The analysis engine determines a set of rules forgoverning the service as requested by the user. The method yet furtherincludes adapting a promotional orchestration engine to respond to thebehaviors and preferences of the user. The method further also includesdetermining the set of rules as interactive rules when the request is bya prescriber for samples or e-samples. The method further includesreturning a quantity of allowable number of drug samples as a responseto the request by the prescriber when the set of rules are interactiverules. The method further includes determining the set of rules as batchrules when an interval of time has expired. The method additionallyincludes customizing a user interface based on the behaviors andpreferences of the prescriber when the set of rules are batch rules.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages ofthis invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomebetter understood by reference to the following detailed description,when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating pieces of a system forpromoting drug samples, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0011]FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating pieces of a system forinteracting with a drug sample promotional ecosystem, according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

[0012]FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating pieces of the drug samplepromotional ecosystem, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0013]FIG. 2C is a block diagram illustrating pieces of a promotionalorchestration engine, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0014]FIG. 2D is a block diagram illustrating pieces of a servicesengine, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 2E is a block diagram illustrating pieces of an analysisengine, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 2F is a block diagram illustrating pieces of a learningengine, according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

[0017]FIGS. 3A-3M are process diagrams illustrating a method fororchestrating drug sample promotional campaigns, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0018]FIG. 1 illustrates a prescriber 102 who is a licensed professionalauthorized to prescribe medications, such as physicians, physicianassistants, certified registered nurse practitioners, advancedregistered nurse practitioners, and so on. Recruitment Web services 100are a modular collection of Web protocol-based applications that arecomposed by various embodiments of the present invention to providediscovery and selectivity of a number of prescribers over the Internetto participate in a drug sample distribution campaign. The prescriber102 may be a member of one or more prescriber-oriented online portals oris identifiable by a prescriber's practice management software runningon a computer system in the prescriber's office with access to theInternet. The recruitment Web services 100 select the prescriber 102 bya process of excluding or including based on criteria defined by apharmaceutical company (“pharma”). These criteria include physicianidentifier numbers (e.g., state license number, DEA number, and so on),medical practice, specialty, therapeutic class to which drug samplesbelong, prescribing volume, and past prescribing behavior of theprescriber 102. The term “samples” means the inclusion of live samples,physical samples, printed vouchers, coupons, electronic coupons(e-coupons), and so on.

[0019] Once the recruitment Web services 100 select the prescriber 102,the prescriber 102 has access to an automatically replenished drugcloset 104 to view drugs or drug samples that are available to him forprescribing to a patient 114. The automatically replenished drug closet104 resides virtually on the prescriber's practice management softwareor on a personalized Web page at a pharmaceutical company orprescriber-oriented online portal. Rules are provided by the pharma andare executed or customized over time to determine whether the drugcloset 104 should be replenished. Suppose the prescriber 102 distributesto the patient 114 a certain quantity of drug samples. Variousembodiments of the present invention can track such prescribed quantityof drug samples so as to automatically replenish the drug closet 104 forthe prescriber 102. This automatic replenishment of drug samples freesthe prescriber 102 from having to manually keep track of drug samplesthat are available to him at any point in time. This facilitates andpromotes the ability of the prescriber 102 to distribute various drugsamples with more regularity. The drug closet 104 is built virtuallyaround a particular prescriber, such as the prescriber 102.

[0020] Health plan drug closet 106 is built around a particular healthplan that has a preference for a set of pharmaceutical products. This isknown as a drug formulary. The drug formulary defines pharmaceuticalproducts that are approved for patients belonging to a particular healthplan and are paid for by the health plan less a co-payment by thepatient. The health plan drug closet 106 offers preferred pharmaceuticalproducts for the prescriber 102, the patient 114, and a pharmacy 110 soas to ensure health plan compliance and lower cost to the health caresystem and reduction in errors at the pharmacy 110. To provide samplesvia a pharmacy, the prescriber 102 preferably selects a drug sample fromthe drug closet 104. Such selection is automatically transferred to thepharmacy 110 via an electronic voucher 108. The electronic voucher 108is an organized scheme of data that includes the prescriber's 102identity, such as his DEA number; the patient's name; and an electronicauthorization and authentication. The electronic voucher 108 uses theelectronic prescribing system (such as, SureScripts, NDC, and so on) totransmit the prescribed sample information to a specifically selectedpharmacy 110 for processing and distributing physical samples 112 to thepatient 114. Various embodiments of the present invention observe thepreferences of the prescriber 102 and his behaviors to customize hisdrug closet 104. This is accomplished using a customization component116.

[0021]FIG. 2A illustrates components of a system by which users arecoupled to a drug sample promotional ecosystem 214. Sales representative202 works for a pharma 208. The drug sample promotional ecosystem 214 isused by the sales representative 202 in conjunction with a CustomerRelation Management software, Sales Force Automation software, or as aninterface to a promotional orchestration engine 230 (FIG. 2B). The salesrepresentative 202 preferably uses the drug sample promotional ecosystem214 to identify high-value prescribers; respond to requests fromprescribers for visits or physical samples; and other marketing or salesfunctions.

[0022] Prescribers 204 are authorized to provide drug samples. Theprescribers 204 also use the drug sample promotional ecosystem 214 torequest samples; sales representative visits; manage sample closetinventory; and obtain medical education information. Patients 206 areconsumers who have been authorized by a prescriber, such as prescribers204, to receive drug samples. The pharma 208 is a company engaged in themanufacture and sales of pharmaceuticals, which are medicinal drugs usedfor therapeutic applications. The pharma 208 accesses the drug samplepromotional ecosystem 214 to obtain analytical data so as to obtain datagenerated by the drug sample promotional ecosystem 214 to formulatetrends against information already available to the pharma 208.Marketing and sales departments of the pharma 208 can also obtain betterreturn on investment analysis from the drug sample promotional ecosystem214. This allows the pharma 208 to better focus and target drug sampledistribution and sales efforts.

[0023] The sales representative 202, prescribers 204, patients 206, andpharma 208 access the drug sample promotional ecosystem 214 via a numberof input/output devices 210. These input/output devices 210 includewired/wireless workstations, such as desktop computers, laptopcomputers, notebook computers, servers, and other similar hardware.Other input/output devices 210 include personal digital assistants;personal digital assistant proxies; telephones; printers, and facsimilecommunication machines. Input/output devices 210 are coupled to the drugsample promotional ecosystem 214 via a network 212.

[0024] The network 212 is a group of computers and associated devicesthat are connected by communication facilities. The network 212 caninvolve permanent connections, such as coaxial or other cables, ortemporary connections made through telephone or other communicationlinks. The network 212 can be as small as a LAN (local area network)consisting of a few computers, printers, and other devices, or it canconsist of many small and large computers distributed over a vastgeographical area (WAN or wide area network). One exemplaryimplementation of a WAN is the Internet, which is a worldwide connectionof networks and gateways that uses the TCP/IP suite of protocols tocommunicate with one another.

[0025]FIG. 2B illustrates the drug sample promotional ecosystem 214 ingreater detail. At the heart of the drug sample promotional ecosystem214 is a promotional orchestration engine 230. Various partners arecoupled to the promotional orchestration engine 230 to help facilitatedistribution of drug samples, reports, and other services to users202-208. Software developers 216 are those that develop software forCustomer Relations Management systems, Sales Force Automation systems,and physician practice management systems. Although software developers216 have no direct linkage to drug sample distribution, they are coupledto the promotional orchestration engine 230 so as to facilitate theinterchange of specifications and plans to allow software products toproduce interchangeable data with the promotional orchestration engine230.

[0026] Channels 218 include pharmaceutical company Web sites, physicianportals, consumer health portals, insurance companies, health careplans, and informatics companies that wrapped the functionality of thepromotional orchestration engine 230 to provide such functionalitythrough their own applications. The channels 218 are interfaced to thepromotional orchestration engine 230 using any suitable means. Onesuitable means includes specific programmatic interface. Anothersuitable means includes an interface through a customizable, tag-basedlanguage, such as extensible markup language (XML).

[0027] The pharmacy 220 is one delivery vehicle for getting drugs to thepatients. To do this, the pharmacy 220 typically needs a validprescription or a valid sample voucher in either paper or electronicform. The pharmacy 220 dispenses the drug to the patient, then bills thepatient directly (for those without health plans), bills the appropriategovernmental agency (for those entitled to assistance) or to a pharmacybenefit manager 224 (for those on health plans).

[0028] An electronic prescribing hub 222 is a commercial venture, whichsupports electronic prescribing. To use an electronic prescribing hub222, the prescriber transmits a prescription to the pharmacy 220 via theelectronic prescribing hub 222. The pharmacy benefit manager 224 usesthe patient information from the electronic prescription, checks to seewhether the prescription is partially or fully covered, and communicateswith the prescriber to obtain an alternate prescription because ofnon-covered or partially covered drug results. A fully covered drug or apartially covered drug that is authorized by the prescriber generates anelectronic prescription to the pharmacy 220 where the patient will pickup the drug or drug sample. The promotional orchestration engine 230 maytransmit an electronic voucher directly to the pharmacy 220 withouthaving to go through the electronic prescribing hub 222. Alternatively,the promotional orchestration engine 230 may transmit the electronicprescription directly to the electronic prescribing hub 222, as if thepromotional orchestration engine 230 were a subscribing health plan.

[0029] The pharmacy benefit manager 224 is an entity, which, for a fee,mediates prices for drugs with the pharma 208, the pharmacy 220 andhealth care plans. When a prescription is issued, the issuing pharmacy220 bills an appropriate pharmacy benefit manager 224. The pharmacybenefit manager 224 pays the pharmacy 220, and bills the patient'shealth plan for the price agreed upon by the plan and the pharmacybenefit manager 224. The pharmacy benefit manager's 224 profit comesfrom claims processing fees. Health plans use pharmacy benefit manager224 because it is cheaper than negotiating contracts themselves withoutthe overhead.

[0030] A data supplier 226 provides information such as demographics,prescriptions, prescribers, economic trends, and prescribers'identification and licensing information. The promotional orchestrationengine 230 uses sample distribution and usage as proxy and leadingindicator for prescriptions. Using external information provided by thedata supplier 226 allows the promotional orchestration engine 230 toadapt it to external trends. For example, a drop in drug sample ordervolume may be due to the nature of the economy and not because of theundesirability of the drug sample. The data supplier 226 may supplyeconomic data so as to allow the promotional orchestration engine 230 totake that information into account and not change the systeminappropriately.

[0031] A fulfillment house 228 is a company that supplies salesrepresentatives and prescribers with drug samples and promotionalmaterials. When dealing with drug samples or other controlled materials,the fulfillment house 228 typically verifies the identity of therequestor by using a signature. The promotional orchestration engine 230helps to facilitate the business processes of the fulfillment house 228because the promotional orchestration engine 230 may alert thefulfillment house 228 electronically of a request for drug samples. Thefulfillment house 228 may also use the promotional orchestration engine230 to introduce a new medical or pharmaceutical product that lacks theattention of sales representatives. The pharma 208 is also a partner tothe promotional orchestration engine 230. The pharma 208 provides rulesfor authorizing sample distribution and tracking these drug samples.

[0032] When a user 202-208 initiates a request to the promotionalorchestration engine 230, the user 202-208 has access to the servicesmade available by the promotional orchestration engine 230 unlesscertain restrictions have been placed on the user 202-208 by law, thepharma 208, the channels 218, and other partners of the promotionalorchestration engine 230. For example, a prescriber-oriented onlineportal may require that drugs from a certain pharma appear first in anonline presentation to a user 202-208. Many suitable actions may beinvoked by the user 202-208 from the promotional orchestration engine230. The user 202-208 may use the promotional orchestration engine 230to check available drug sample status or examine educational materials.If the user 202-208 is a prescriber, the prescriber may print a samplevoucher to distribute the sample voucher. If the user 202-208 is aprescriber and is using an automated inventory system compatible withthe promotional orchestration engine 230, the promotional orchestrationengine 230 obtains current inventory status and issues automatedreorders to pharma or fulfillment houses 228 for products where suchreorders are allowed. For products where automated reorders are notallowed, the user is provided a reminder that a reorder is needed.

[0033] Another activity that can be performed by the user 202-208through the promotional orchestration engine 230 is issuing anelectronic prescription for a drug sample in the form of free medicationto be dispensed by a pharmacy if the user 202-208 is a prescriber. Thismay be for cases where samples for certain drugs are not available, orwhen keeping drug samples in a sample closet creates problems (such asmanaging controlled substances or when specialized storage is required).Electronic sample prescriptions may go through an intermediary, such asthe electronic prescribing hub 222 or directly to the pharmacy 220. Ifthe user is authorized to order supplies from a fulfillment house 228,the user 202-208 may interact with the promotional orchestration 230 togenerate an order to be sent to an appropriate supplier. This mayinvolve printing a request so that the user 202-208 may sign and fax therequest or it may involve direct transmission of the request with anelectronic authorization and authentication. The promotionalorchestration engine 230 also allows the user 202-208 to requestinformation about a particular drug, promotional items from apharmaceutical company, request for a sales representative visit, viewonline drug information, or obtain an electronic detail (an onlinedrug-specific or disease specific education program). Furthermore, thepromotional orchestration engine 230 allows information to be sent fromor to the promotional orchestration engine 230. This includes dataexchanged with other systems, such as customer relation management. Thepromotional orchestration engine 230 allows generation of data files forsecure transport or interchange of data with other electronic systemsvia a common language, such as XML.

[0034] The promotional orchestration engine 230 is illustrated ingreater detail at FIG. 2C. A services engine 232 provides user interfacefunctionality, such as sample request generation, inventory management,and sales representative services. The services engine 232 istransactional in that a user's request to the services engine 232typically results in information being returned to the user or requestfor further actions that will be forwarded to the channels 218, thepharma 208, and suppliers (fulfillment house) 228. An analysis engine234 stores data and provides tactical and strategic level analysis. Theanalysis engine 234 uses transactional data generated by the servicesengine 232 to extract knowledge and consolidate and aggregate suchinformation. For example, the analysis engine 234 consolidatesinformation from preferences of a prescriber with demographicinformation, usage data, and prescription data. Such consolidationgenerates a profile of the prescriber that allows the promotionalorchestration engine 230 to predict what sort of products a prescriberis likely to need or be interested in next.

[0035] The learning engine 236 is a mechanism by which the promotionalorchestration engine 230 adapts itself to changing conditions. Thelearning engine 236 preferably customizes various components of theservices engine 232 and components of the analysis engine 234. Thelearning engine 236 uses information from the analysis engine 234 andfrom the pharma 208, the fulfillment house 228, and channels 218 todetermine the proper configuration and information for presenting to auser 202-208. The learning engine 236 causes the services engine 232 topresent different information over time so as to keep the system fresh.From a user's standpoint, the learning engine 236 allows components ofthe services engine 232 to be personalized to the particular user.

[0036]FIG. 2D illustrates the services engine 232 in greater detail. Theservices engine 232 provides basic transactional functionality of thepromotional orchestration engine 230. The user interface 262 is theportion of the application suitable for human interaction. It includesWeb pages customized to meet capture/display device requirements (e.g.,there may be different pages for conventional workstation Web browsersand for PDA Web browsers); an automated voice response (AVR) system forthose using an automated interface via telephones; and human assistance,e.g., a call center. An API interface 264 is the portion used forinterchanging data and information with other applications; as such, itis the gateway to core functionality for channel partner applications,which wrap core functionality. The API may be generic (suitable formultiple channels) or specifically tailored to a given channel. The APImay also use either encrypted or unencrypted transport depending on thesecurity needs of the specific interface.

[0037] Inventory management 238 is a service that allows a prescriberoffice staff to manage the contents of the prescriber's sample closetfor physical, electronic vouchers, paper coupon samples, and othersuitable forms of samples. This includes: automated reorder of vouchersand coupons if the existing stock is depleted, whether allocation limitshave been reached, or the stock has reached expiration dates; remindersfor physical sample reorder when stocks are expected to be low; usagereporting; inventory status; and some limited patient compliance checks.Replenishment and tracking of samples requires the prescriber to use acompatible inventory system. This will generally be an automated system(although limited manual functions will also be provided) and generallyin the form of a PDA or workstation which maintains a list of theprescriber's sampling activities and synchronizes at intervals with thepromotional orchestration engine 230. The interface to the client devicemay be manual or automated.

[0038] Inventory management 238 covers several functions for anindividual prescriber virtual sample closet: maintain a count includinghistory of previous orders of the number of paper vouchers and physicalsamples requested; allow a prescriber to update the quantity of physicalsamples and paper coupons in the prescriber's sample closet;automatically decrease the count of paper samples when a paper sample isordered; automatically prepare and/or issue a replenishment order whenthe sample quantities in the sample closet fall below a reorder point;automatically issue a replenishment reminder when the expiration datesof previously printed vouchers have been reached or if the remainingquantity (the number originally printed less the number redeemed) fallsbelow a reorder point; automatically issue a reminder to reorder whenthe quantities of physical samples in the sample closet fall below areorder point; for patient compliance with e-vouchers, issue a “tickler”to the prescriber indicating whether the voucher has been redeemed(i.e., the patient picked up the sample); and for patient compliancewith e-vouchers, if a sample was redeemed issue a “tickler” to theprescriber when the sample has run out (i.e., the patient should haveused all the sample).

[0039] Representative visit scheduling 244 is a service that allows theuser (assuming the user is authorized to do so) to request a visit froma pharma sales representative. These representative visits are highlyprized by sales organizations because they represent “face time” withthe prescriber. A request for a visit is extremely valuable because manydrop-by visits by representatives result in little contact with theprescriber. Sales representatives can also use this service to adjusttheir call schedules and activities based on prescriber preferences: forexample, a prescriber may change preferences for see/no-see,sample/no-sample, delivery or form preferences, or therapeutic classinterest. This allows the sales representative to adjust call patterns,the services the sales representative will offer on a visit, thematerial the representative will leave with the prescriber and so on. Ifthe representative is using Customer Relation Management (CRM) or SalesForce Automation (SFA) software compatible with the sales representativevisiting schedule function, the information used in this function can beautomatically loaded to the CRM/SFA software and automaticallyintegrated with the other tasks the sales representative is to perform.Representative visit scheduling 244 captures several pieces ofinformation: prescriber name; prescriber address; prescribertelephone/fax/e-mail; drug(s) for which visit is requested; date andtime at which the visit is requested; special request (e.g., bringsamples, bring literature, multiple prescribers will be present, etc.).The sales representative visit scheduling supports: links to compatibleSFA/CRM systems for automatic updating of rep task lists; consolidationof requests (a sales representative gets a single list of requests fromall prescribers based on which drug the sales representative covers; thesales representative does not have to search for information byindividual prescriber); priority-setting in that the receiving salesrepresentative can designate specific prescribers as higher importanceor designate groups of prescribers to have higher priority based oncriteria such as geographic proximity of the prescribers (e.g., clustersget higher priority than individuals), specialty, sampling deciles, andso on.

[0040] Physical samples, vouchers and e-coupons 250 is a service thatauthorizes users to create sample prescriptions without using anElectronic Prescribing Hub or an electronic signature system. Physicalsamples are requests to suppliers—usually fulfillment houses—for aphysical drug sample. The process of obtaining phsyical samples startswith a paper or electronic request generated within the promotionalorchestration engine and sent to the supplier: the user requestsphysical samples from the promotional orchestration engine; thepromotional orchestration engine validates that the user is authorizedto receive this drug sample; the promotional orchestration engine issuesan electronic “early warning” to the supplier that a request forphysical samples is imminent (details are included in the notification);the promotional orchestration engine displays a phsyical sample requestpage suitable for printing and signature; and the prescriber faxes thesigned page to the supplier before the supplier will issue the samples.An electronic authorization and authentications, such as digitalsignatures, provides a means of eliminating the manual steps forobtaining drug samples. The presence of a valid electronic authorizationand authentication will allow the promotional orchestration engine toconfirm to the supplier the request is valid and eliminate the need fora faxed signature. The promotional orchestration engine also has theability to allow the supplier to update the status of the request, e.g.,awaiting prescriber signature, awaiting shipment, shipped, delivered andsigned for.

[0041] Samples include prescriptions, locally printed on-demand or in abatch, which the prescriber signs to validate. The process for obtainingvarious samples can be different. Samples, such as a voucher, may alsobe sent through an Electronic Prescribing Hub or to a pharmacy; in thiscase, the samples are signed digitally by the prescriber and transmittedelectronically to the electronic prescribing hub or pharmacy instead ofbeing printed. Whereas voucher samples are used by prescribers,electronic coupon samples may be oriented to prescribers ordirect-to-consumer. For voucher samples, the process to obtain includes:the prescriber selects the desired drug sample (including dosage andformat) from the list of samples the prescriber is authorized to receive(the authorization rules come from the supplier); the prescriber ispresented with appropriate documentation on the use and limitations ofthe voucher and must accept this before proceeding; the prescriber isasked how many voucher samples the prescriber intends to print; thevoucher sample may be displayed, customized to the degree possible forthe prescriber; the prescriber prints the voucher sample on his/herlocal printer; the prescriber signs the voucher sample and presents itto the patient; the patient takes the signed voucher sample to apharmacy where it is treated exactly like a prescription; billing forthe dispensed drug is made to a party operating the promotionorchestration engine and by such a party in turn bills the authorizingpharma or channel.

[0042] Electronic coupon samples include OEM coupons from pharmas orother coupon processors like McKesson and those hosted by thepromotional orchestration engine. These electronic coupon samplestypically specify the dosage and format. The patient or prescriberusually prints a copy which the prescriber then signs. The signed couponsample commonly then entitles the patient to a free physical sample froma pharmacy, money off on a prescription, or extra quantities whenredeemed in conjunction with a prescription. Additional promotionsoffers, such as mail-in rebates, cents-off coupons, and so on, can alsobe printed by prescribers, provided to patients, who then follow thepromotional offer instructions to obtain price discounts via alternativesystems, such as via mail to fulfillment houses, through couponredemption systems, or the banking systems.

[0043] Prescribers with automated prescription systems (e.g., systems onhandheld computers) can use those systems to issue vouchers. The processfor using automated prescription systems is as follows: The prescriberselects the desired drug sample (including dosage and format) from thelist of samples the prescriber is authorized to receive (theauthorization rules come from the supplier); the prescriber is presentedwith appropriate documentation on the use and limitations of thevoucher; the prescriber electronically or digitally signs the limitationdocument and is present with the voucher; the prescriber electronicallyor digitally signs the voucher; and the promotional orchestration engineelectronically transmits the voucher to an Electronic Prescribing Hub ordirectly to a pharmacy depending on requirements and rules.

[0044] Voucher samples and electronic coupon samples may be accessed inseveral ways. At a minimum, users access coupons and e-vouchers by:pharma; therapeutic class; health plan; search preference list. Thisallows the user to select drug samples based on brand, use, or onwhether the patient's health plan authorizes a particular drug. Thispromotes utilization of a specific health plan formulary for treatingpatients enrolled in that plan.

[0045] One aspect of the service 250 is the ability of the pharma orchannel to set automated rules on distribution. For example, a user mayor may not be allowed to request based upon: prescriber behavior; howmany samples have been requested by the prescriber in a given time;whether the prescriber has had mandatory education (e.g., an e-detail);whether the prescriber will accept a rep visit; prescriber trend data;allocation limits for that specific prescriber or a group to which theprescriber belongs; whether the user has completed a specified number ofe-learning sessions.

[0046] The e-learning link service 256 is an educational servicesoffering. E-learning provides electronic remote education to prescribersabout specific drugs. The process works by sending a prescriber from thee-learning site to a promotional orchestration engine but the processworks equally as efficiently if the prescriber can be sent to thee-learning site from within the promotional orchestration engine. Forexample, a prescriber requesting a new drug might be sent to thee-learning site for that drug if the promotional orchestration enginerecords show the prescriber has not completed necessary training.E-learning is accomplished by either automatically routing a user to ane-learning site or by “wrapping” the e-learning site within the servicesengine 232.

[0047] Patient assistance service 240 is a program available from thepharmas for indigent or low-income care. Since drug samples arefrequently used by prescribers to provide these patients with freemedication, the ability to calculate accurate return on investment fordrug sampling is compromised, and the patients may not receive the fullrange of medications available to them. To generate a more accuratereturn on investment for sampling, the use of drug samples forhumanitarian reasons need be better understood. The patient assistanceservice 240 makes it easy for prescribers to register appropriatepatients for official patient assistance programs. A patient that is inthe assistance program is a patient that can receive samples through acontrolled patient assistance program, and the use of drug sample fornon-trial purposes is therefore minimized.

[0048] The patient assistance service 240 has a process to identify,control, and provide drug samples used for indigent or low-incomepatients: the prescriber enters the therapeutic class for the desireddrug; the promotional orchestration engine determines if any assistanceprograms offer this class and, if so, which ones; if there are drugsavailable in the class, the promotional orchestration engine presents asimple Web page allowing documentation for the request (most eligibilityrequests involve the same information, just structured differently);with the data from the Web page, the promotional orchestration engineevaluates eligibility using the criteria for each assistance program;the promotional orchestration engine presents a list of candidate drugsor a set of reasons why eligibility was not met; the prescriber choosesthe drug for the patient; and the promotional orchestration engineeither prints the appropriate documentation so it can be sent to thepharma or transmits it electronically if the pharma is equipped tohandle electronic requests. Applications for drug discount card programscan also be made available to the prescriber to provide to eligiblepatients via the promotional orchestration engine as part of the patientassistance module.

[0049] Pre-enroll services 246 are used when a pharma or channel wishesto enroll a large number of validated users at one time. This reducessystem load, improves user performance, and allows the pharma or channelto specify exactly which prescribers have access to which services.Pre-enroll services 246 require the pharma or channel to supply anelectronic file with the information in a standard format; standarddatabase loading and transformation queries are then used to move theinformation from the supplied database to the promotional orchestrationengine database.

[0050] Pre-enrollment may also be implemented by either preloading onlyrecruited users or by preloading and activation. In the former approach,the promotional orchestration engine is configured with a list ofspecific users, all of whom will be given access to the system. Forexample, a given specialty may be given access to services, so the dataprovided will be a complete list of those in that specialty: they areall simultaneously activated.

[0051] The preloading and activation approach is more sophisticated. Inthis mechanism, users are pre-populated into the promotionalorchestration engine database but are left in an inactive status. Thestatus is switched to active and the promotional orchestration enginebecomes available to the user based on recruiting or other activities;for example, a marketing campaign might start with prescribers in agiven locale, then roll out the program to other locales by activatingthe users in those areas in a specified sequence. Since there is fullcontrol over what the user is able to do in the promotionalorchestration engine, this also applies to services. A pre-enrolled usercan immediately have access to a full set of services or have thoseservices rolled out in a coordinated campaign. This combination of beingable to activate users on anything down to an individual basis coupledwith service activation control lets recruiting efforts be tightlytargeted.

[0052] Representative services 252 are present to assist salesrepresentatives with planning and implementing sales visits.Representative time is valuable and the representatives want toconcentrate their time on prescribers who write the most prescriptions.Representative services make use of the analysis engine to: identify thebest candidates for office visits (i.e., prescribers who sample a lotbased on the trendline analysis) identify future high prescribers(prescribers whose rate of sample use is increasing based on trendlineanalysis and matrix matching); identify which message to “push” to aprescriber based on prescriber behavior based on matrix matching: bycomparing which messages worked well for similar groups/profiles, a repcan establish an appropriate approach for marketing to prescribers. Forexample, when two otherwise similar groups of prescribers receivedifferent messages and one prescriber uses a noticeably greater numberof samples compared to the other, it is likely that the message made adifference. This lets representatives tailor messages to clientele.

[0053] Representative services 252 also support basic “blocking andtackling” marketing functions such as SFA software integration (thepromotional orchestration engine) which provides integrated linkage forappointments, task lists, and similar functions; examination of customerhistory, which prior to a visit to a prescriber, the representative canview some elements of the prescriber behavior such as recent samplingand new prescription data. This lets the representative customize thepresentation to the prescriber to more closely match what the prescriberis doing; printing or ordering coupons, e-vouchers, and other materialsthat provide enough value (e.g., customized coupons) that a prescriberwill take the time to see the rep; personalization of paper samples andcoupons to specific prescribers and specific representatives; printingto local copy services (such as Kinko's) for high-volume requestsinstead of using a local printer, which includes use of standardizedtemplates (e.g., producing coupons for the same product in a variety ofpage layouts and being able to order specialized services such asbinding or trimming through the promotional orchestration engine);allowing the representative to order new sales collateral from pharma orother suppliers; participate in “ask/answer” bulletin board conferencingwith other representatives, which can be open (accessible to reps fromvarious pharma or sales organizations) or restricted (limited to aspecific set of reps as determined by the discussion owner); receivingnew training or educational material from the representative's employer(source materials may be placed into the promotional orchestrationengine by the pharma or sales organization and accessed by the rep: thisis the same technology as applies to the knowledge base but isspecifically using source materials targeted to representatives;updating to show whether a visit was successfully arranged andcompleted. Representative services are implemented by specificsubservices (e.g., the bulletin board) and a service-based interface tothe data warehouse supported by the analysis engine 234. Pre-programmedscripts (specifications defined by the rep employer) are available aswell as limited ad-hoc queries through the warehouse itself.

[0054] Pharma services 258 are services oriented towards reporting theresults of sales and marketing initiatives. Pharma is very interested inidentifying prescriber behavior and groups that are more likely to havehigher prescription rates. These functions are intended to let pharmaanalyze trends and behaviors to more effectively sharpen theirmarketing. Like representative services 252, pharma services 258 makeextensive use of the analysis engine 234. The pharma service 258 allowsaccess to the underlying analysis engine 234 data in real time or nearreal time. In addition to pre-built reports such as samples used bydrug, representative, area, therapeutic class; trends by drug,representative, area, therapeutic class; new prescriptions by drug,representative, area, therapeutic class; and lagged and current periodcomparison of samples vs. prescriptions by drug, representative, area,therapeutic class.

[0055] Pharma services 258 use much of the same data as representativeservices 252 in the analysis engine 234 but also make extensive use ofdata from external sources. Data from external sources, particularlyspecific prescriber prescription data, is necessary to demonstrate thelink between samples, new prescriptions and total prescriptions anddocument the mathematics of that linkage. The other major pharma use ofthe promotional orchestration engine, setting up rules and allocations,is contained in the learning engine 236.

[0056] The knowledge base 242 is a collection of useful services(Ask/Answer, Medical Education, journal article reprints, and so on)that let prescribers and other users search for information in a singleplace. The service 242 includes Web pages containing links to documentsstored in promotional orchestration engine coupled with a simple Websearch engine. The service 242 also includes a Web-based interface to acommercial document management system and knowledge engine which allowsplain English queries. The knowledge base 242 reflects some activitiesof the promotional orchestration engine itself, for example, list the 10most frequently accessed articles; list the 10 most frequently accessedarticles for prescriber's specialty; list the 10 most frequentlyaccessed articles for prescriber's zip code; list articles related tothis one; list articles by therapeutic class; list articles by drug;list articles by pharma. To do this, the promotional orchestrationengine not only store articles but for each article stored it tracksaccesses by prescriber specialty; accesses by zip code; using “nautilus”code that correlates article relationships and therapeutic classes; andauthorship.

[0057] Personalization/customization 248 is a service that allows theuser to customize the promotional orchestration engine experience tosome degree. For example, a user may be able to specify which drugsappear in the user's home Web page and the order in which those samplesappear. Personalization/customization also allows the promotionalorchestration engine to adapt itself to the user's behavior over time.The learning engine 236 portion of the promotional orchestration enginecombines with the analysis engine 234 to analyze the behavior patternsof a given user, the learning engine can customize thepersonalization/customization setting so that even if the user nevercustomizes the service engine interface, the interface will stillgradually adapt itself to the work the user performs.

[0058] Personalization/customization involves access to the dataelements detailed in the prescriber preferences and usage components ofthe analysis engine 234 plus tracking some additional items, among whichare use of the knowledge base and Patient Assistance (e.g., whicharticles are accessed, which assistance programs are used); the contentsand order of the drugs in the prescriber's personal virtual samplecloset; e-learning; representative visits requested/completed.

[0059] Personalization/customization processing is at the base largely amatter of counting. The things done most frequently such as access tospecific drug samples, requests for visits, looking up specificinformation in the knowledge base 242 are likely the things theprescriber values most. The promotional orchestration engine 230 movesthese to a personalized “home page” for that prescriber. This page maybe different than that for any other prescriber because its contents andthe order of the contents are based on what that specific prescriber hasdone in the past and the preferences he or she has established.

[0060] Patient education 254 is the service that allows patients andpotential patients access to education, starter kits, and similarpatient-oriented materials for patients who have begun or may be aboutto begin a drug regimen. Pharmas often produce patient educationmaterial that explain the specific condition they may have, describeproper use, dosage, side effects, interactions, and storage of drugswhich are intended to help patients use the drugs properly and withminimal risk. These materials may or may not be provided with a drugsample; this implies that drug samples given to a patient who does notreceive education material may be riskier than those given to a patientwho did receive them since the patient lacks vital information. Patienteducation material may be provided to the patient by the prescriber (theprescriber prints them locally or orders them via the promotionalengine), the prescriber provides the link to the promotionalorchestration engine 230 to that the patient can obtain his/her ownmaterial, or the patient may search out the information on his/her own.

[0061] Recruiting services 260 are pharma-oriented services which allowpharma marketing users to initiate recruiting campaigns. These serviceswork in conjunction with the recruiting profiling functions of thelearning engine. In brief, these cooperate to provide bothrecommendations for prescriber selection and the means to use thoserecommendations immediately. The recruiting profiling function of thelearning engine 236 provides demographic and performance based profilingbased upon the success or failure of earlier recruiting. This allows theuser to quickly refine which characteristics are most important torecruiting candidates who will make use of samples of that particulardrug. The recruiting services function of the services engine 232 takesthe prescriber set(s) created by the recruiting profiling function andallows the user to initiate contact campaigns directly. This includesfeatures such as generating accounts (using the pre-enroll service),creating digital keys, mass e-mailings, special online promotions withinpartner site communication, and so on.

[0062] In a typical scenario, a pharma user would begin with a need for500 prescribers to be recruited for a product launch. Using therecruiting profiling functions in the learning engine 236, the userdetermines that the best launch strategy is to target prescribers whouse a certain drug therapeutic class and not on geography orspecialization. The recruiting profiling function indicates there are400 such prescribers available via recruiting services 260. The userthen instructs the recruiting profiling function to transfer thoseprescribers to the recruiting services function. The prescriberinformation is not completely displayed to the user: the user sees ablinded set of information that does not allow identification ofspecific prescribers. This is for both prescriber privacy and to preventuse of this information outside the system in ways which may beincompatible with usage policies. The blinded set is presented to allowthe user to select or deselect specific individuals based on displayedinformation. The user then invokes the recruiting services functions.These functions allow the user to select common recruitingapproaches—for example, using e-mail—and the content of those approaches(e.g., upload a PDF brochure to accompany the e-mail) from a set ofstandardized recruiting tools. Additionally, the user can requestspecialized services. When the request is completed, it is forwarded bythe system to a coordinator for pricing if pricing has not previouslybeen established. Once suitable pricing has been agreed to by theclient, the recruiting request is authorized by the coordinator andexecution begins. Certain functions such as mass e-mailing potentialrecruits using the collateral provided by the pharma user can take placeimmediately for the prescribers known to the system. Functions likerecruiting through partner portals may benefit from manual processing.

[0063] At the time the recruiting request is executed, an entry is madeinto the recruiting profiling data indicating the criteria for selectingthe recruits, the prescribers selected, and the drug for which therecruiting is being done. As requests for samples are processed, thisinformation is used to augment the recruiting profiling data to indicateresponse rates and times. This provides the basis for the recruitingprofiling function of the learning engine 236 to evaluate how well therecruit group responds to the campaign. This allows those functions tomake better recommendations for future campaigns.

[0064] The analysis engine 234 captures actions taken by a user of thesystem for recordation and analysis. See FIG. 2E. These actions of theanalysis engine 234 help to allow the learning engine 236 to betteradapt the services engine 232 to the user; facilitatereturn-on-investment calculation on sampling by tracking sampling versusprescription activity by prescriber and prescriber group; to allowanalysis and segmentation of users based on how the users interact withthe services engine 232 (e.g., we might find that cardiologists use theknowledge base 242 more than other general practitioners, so marketingto cardiologists might thus tilt to informational approaches instead ofrepresentative visits); to provide customers of the promotionalorchestration engine 230 with useful information about the effectivenessof marketing (e.g., we might find that use of the system is tieddirectly to marketing done in certain magazines targeted towardsspecific prescriber segments and is negatively correlated to consumercoupons in newspapers); to provide tracking for coupons and e-vouchers;to allow “profiling” for inferential analysis. Since the user populationfor the system is more or less statistically distributed, it should bepossible to draw a profile of a hypothetical “average” user of thesystem by demographic and specialty. Combining the “average” user withthe specific preferences of the user expressed in the services engine230 allows a highly targeted campaign with a lessened risk of narrowingthe focus of the individual user too much—the individual preferenceswill be constantly trying to narrow the focus, the “average” userpreferences to widen it. The technologies underlying the analysis engine234 include both transactional databases and data warehouses; the formerare used primarily to store information, the latter to consolidate andanalyze it.

[0065] The API component 266 is the means by which information is sentinto or extracted from the analysis engine 234 by external sites. Usinga specific API allows these sites to build applications which workreliably using analysis engine 234 data and at the same time provide adegree of protection to the analysis engine 234 by making it unnecessaryto expose the inner workings of the analysis engine 234 proper. APIswill at a minimum be provided for: remote channel login; launchcustomized interface; voucher and e-coupon generation, serialized orotherwise; graphics rebranding (allow a pharma company or a channelpartner to add in its own graphics); all external data suppliers(necessary because information is being provided in proprietaryformats).

[0066] The usage component 268 of the analysis engine 234 tracksprescriber sampling activities, among them: which user is accessing thepromotional orchestration engine; when and how frequently the useraccesses the promotional orchestration engine; what services are invoked(e.g., e-vouchers, rep services, literature request, physical samplerequests, e-learnings, etc.); what requests were made from each service(e.g., how many e-vouchers were printed); and how many samplecoupons/e-vouchers were requested, printed, redeemed. In other words,the usage component 268 of the analysis engine 234 tracks how a specificindividual user actually works with the promotional orchestration engine230.

[0067] Samples vs. prescription component 270 is targeted to providecorrelation between drug samples, new prescriptions, and totalprescriptions. The sample vs. prescription component 270 tracks samplesusing the inventory management service, representative services,e-voucher, coupon, and physical sample services, and compares thesampling activity against statistical profiles of prescriptions by drugand area to generate a model of sampling versus prescribing activity.

[0068] The analysis engine 234 compares lagged sample usage (containedin the usage component 268) against prescription data obtained fromoutside vendors. The usage component 268 tracks not only how thepromotional orchestration engine is being used but what it does. Forexample, it determines which physical drug samples are requested, whichvouchers and coupons are printed and redeemed, which paper coupons arerequested and used. By comparing the total number of samples issued atperiods in the past (for example, 120, 90, 60, and 30 days) againstprescriptions, the analysis engine 234 establishes a correlation: forexample, an increase of 20% in sample use 120 days ago may correlate to5% increase in new prescriptions in the current period. A justifiableinference is that the two are cause and effect: 25% of those issuedsamples will shift to prescriptions approximately 4 months later. Thepromotional orchestration engine 230 can provide this sort of knowledgeto better strategize a drug sampling promotional campaign.

[0069] The rules component 272 of the analysis engine 234 is providedwith a specific service request and user ID and uses information fromthe learning engine 236 and the analysis engine 234 to determine if therequest should be serviced. For example, if a prescriber wishes to printe-vouchers for a particular drug, the rules component 272 can return oneof four responses based on the drug and that particular user: OK; OKwith an allocation limit; OK after conditions are met (e.g., the usermust complete an e-learning before being allowed to print); and refusedfor various reasons.

[0070] The rules component 272 provides a convenient means for theservices engine 234 to ensure compliance with pharma, partners, andfulfillment house rules without embedding the coding for those rules inthe services engine 234 proper. This makes the system more flexible andchanges to rule structures and data easier to manage with less impact tothe remainder of the promotional orchestration engine 230. Rules may beeither static or dynamic. A static rule is one that does not changebased on prescriber or user behavior. For example, there might be a rulethat only 10 live samples of a particular drug may be requested in agiven 90-day period. A dynamic rule is one that may result on differentactions based on prescriber or user actions. For example, a dynamic rulemay say “only 10 physical samples may be distributed in any 90-dayperiod unless the requester agrees to a rep visit; the rep visitautomatically authorizes an additional 10 samples.” The rules component272 is able to evaluate a request based on any combination of:whether/how many e-learnings have been done by the user for that drug orpharma; whether/how many rep visits have been done by the user for thatdrug or pharma; how many samples have been requested within a specifiedperiod; how many samples have been printed within a specified period;how many samples have been redeemed within a specified period; theprescribing decile for the user (if applicable) by location, specialty,therapeutic class; user specialty (if applicable); and sample toprescription conversion rate for the prescriber within a specifiedperiod. The data for the tests can be found in the usage component 268and samples vs. prescription components 270 of the analysis engine 234.

[0071] Prescriber preferences component 274 track how the user says theywould like to work with the promotional orchestration engine. These arepreferences which are generally visible to and modifiable by theprescriber such as see/no see; sample/no sample; delivery preference(mail, rep, online); form preference (physical, coupon, e-voucher);sampling interest (e.g., individual prescriber sample closet); andsurvey and information mailing opt-ins. This information is used inconjunction with activity information by the analysis engine 234 andlearning engine 236 to continuously adapt and modify the way thepromotional orchestration engine interacts with the prescriber.

[0072] The health plan preferences component 276 records the drugpreferences of various health plans. This is important for drug samplingsince not all plans cover all drugs and the prescriber will likely wishto provide the patient with samples of drugs that are covered under thepatient's health plan. The health plan preferences component 276supports both generic and branded drugs since health plans generally do.If a prescriber elects to search for allowed drug samples by health planor otherwise restricts the search within therapeutic class to the drugsallowed by the health plan, only drugs allowed by the health plan willbe returned as available samples. Additionally, if the health plan has apreferred set of drugs, the returned list of sample candidates will beorganized to reflect this preference. If the sample leads to aprescription, this tight integration of sampling with health planrequirements will ensure the patient is covered for the prescription andthus greatly improves the efficiency of the process.

[0073] The electronic authorization and authentication component 278provides the necessary support for analyzing and validating digital anddigitized signatures. Whereas an electronic authorization andauthentication is a cryptographic instrument which assures the identityof the person using it, a digitized signature is simply an image of asignature.

[0074] Fraud analysis component 280 is a set of metrics that identifiesprobable fraudulent sample redemptions. Identifying fraudulentsampling—diversions, copying coupons or e-vouchers, multiple samples tothe same patient—is important both from the standpoint of properreturn-on-investment computation and compliance with applicable law.

[0075] Inferential analysis component 282 provides a moving analysis oftrend and profiling data. The promotional orchestration engine 234 canuse the inferential analysis component 282 to continually upgradeservices and target marketing to pharmas, fulfillment houses, andchannels, and these agencies can use inferential data to more closelytarget marketing to the promotional orchestration engine users. Forexample, demographic, prescriber, and usage data can be combined toinfer how to properly market to prescribers. When a prescriber beginspractice, the prescriber serves a particular demographic based on thetype of practice and patient demographics. This demographic changes overtime: if a prescriber starts with a patient demographic that includes alot of infants, it is predictable that in a few years the prescriberwill have a practice with many children. If you know what sorts of drugsand services are used by prescribers with many children for patients,you can infer that a prescriber with many infant patients now willlikely be interested in those services within a predictable timeframe.This means that at the appropriate time, the information pushed to theprescriber by the promotional orchestration engine and salesrepresentatives can start to reflect the drugs used by prescribers withchildren rather than infants.

[0076] If sufficient information is collected about the prescriber andhis prescribing habits from the usage component 268, enough demographicdata about the prescriber from the prescriber profile, and enoughdemographic data from the Census or other sources about the prescriber'sgeographic area, the promotional orchestration engine 230 can generate aprofile of a prescriber practice over time and what should be marketedto that practice at each stage. Similarly, inferential analysis can beused to allocate resources. Most marketing resources are concentrated onthe top deciles of prescribers, i.e., prescribers who write a lot ofprescriptions. However, this group does not remain constant. Ideally, asales representative wants to know which prescribers in the top decilesare slowing down (so that additional incentives and/or fewer resourceswill be used for those prescribers) and which prescribers in lowerdeciles are likely to move into the top deciles. Again, the informationin usage component 268 plus the prescriber profile data can be used toinfer which prescribers fall into each category and therefore how bestto expend sales rep resources.

[0077] Prescriber profiles 284 contain the basic demographic andprofessional information for the user. This information is generally notvisible or modifiable by the user. It is used in the predictiveprofiling process for multivariate and trendline analysis, forconstruction of the profiles for the particular prescriber, and otherstatistical processing. Examples of prescriber profile informationinclude age; gender; opinion leadership position; decile; decile bytherapeutic class; sampling history; derived groups and market segments;geographic location; and specialties. Prescriber profiles are constantlyupdated, both by prescriber interaction with the promotionalorchestration engine and by data swapping and collaboration withchannels and data suppliers 236. Channels, particularly portal channels,gain insights into prescriber behavior by tracking prescriber activitieson the channel's Web site or in the channel's services. Since thechannel offers a different but related set of functions to thepromotional orchestration engine, additional information can be gleanedby combining information from the channel with information from thepromotional orchestration engine. The mechanism for doing this is theprescriber profile: data from channels is stored in the profile andanalyzed in precisely the same fashion as native promotionalorchestration engine data.

[0078] A key function of the promotional orchestration engine 230 is itsability to adapt over time to the users of the system and its ownfunctions using the learning engine 236. See FIG. 2F. Many systems offerthe ability for the user to customize settings; the promotionalorchestration engine 230 offers that but additionally modifies its ownbehavior based upon what the user does.

[0079] Recruiting profiling component 286 allows the optimization ofrecruiting efforts. As pharma customers submit requests for recruitingof specific practice segments or demographics, it becomes possible todraw a profile of what sort of prescriber is desirable for certain typesof drugs at certain stages of development. Once these profiles can bedrawn, a marketing recruiting services can be offered to pharmaalready-registered prescribers who fit the profiles for new or otherproducts pharma wishes to emphasize. In other words, the recruitmentprocess itself informs the desirable characteristics and with thisinformation prescriber groups can be suggested to a pharma instead ofwaiting to be asked by the pharma.

[0080] Recruiting profiling component 286 also feeds the recruitingservices of the services engine 232. Because this function tracks whatcriteria were used for campaigns and how well recruits responded, it canbe used to analyze proper recruiting strategies. For example, a usercould view earlier campaigns by therapeutic class, demographic,geographic, specialization, and similar criteria and the results ofthose campaigns to decide on which basis the current campaign should beimplemented. (Note: this is abstracted information: it does not includethe specific sales collateral used by those campaigns unless the user isauthorized to see them. The idea is to allow the user to pick the mostpromising recruit group but the actual elements of the campaign areprovided by the user).

[0081] Automatic interface customization component 288 is a way ofmaking the interface convenient for a user based on what that user hasdone and is allowed to do. Automatic interface customization wouldinclude such dynamic features as: moving commonly used services andproduct links closer to the front/top of the application; removing linksto products or services the user is not allowed to access; addingservices and products similar to the ones the user has already selectedto the front of the application; and comparing the specific user profileagainst an “average” user profile for the specialty and adjusting theuser interface to include information and drugs from the “average”profile. In short, automatic interface customization tries to adapt theinterface to cover both what the user is currently doing and what theuser is most likely to do in the future. In practice, much of theautomated interface customization is preferably implemented via therules processor.

[0082] The demand list component 290 is a learning engine tool by whichusers of the system indicates what drugs they want. While thepromotional orchestration engine 230 is not limited in the number ofdrugs it can manage, pharmas will not necessarily be willing to use thepromotional orchestration engine 230 without some evidence that doing sowill provide benefits. The demand list is a simple measure of the desireon the part of core users for a particular drug and thus a potentialindicator of how effective the promotional orchestration engine 230would be in marketing that drug.

[0083] Statistics component 292 is included in the learning engine 236to adjust statistics presented based on the amount of data available.For example, during the early stages of a product rollout, there may beso little data that p-tests are used in preference to the z-test usedwith larger amounts of data. Correlation statistics may be based onstraight values, lagged values, or lagged moving averages based on theamount of data available to the system and the accuracy of the fittedcurve. Many users are not trained mathematicians or statisticians. Forthis reason the promotional orchestration engine 230 itself must adaptto present the most appropriate statistics available in order to avoidmisleading or misinforming the user. We anticipate the statistics enginewill allow users to override the statistics function recommendations aslong as the function provides a warning that doing so may giveinaccurate results.

[0084] Reporting component 294 provides “smart” reporting tools which domore than simply work with a static set of data. These tools produceconventional reports but are also based on which reports the useraccesses and how the user manipulates the information in the datawarehouse to be able to “suggest” new reports to the user. For example,if the user requests a series of trendlines based on single products,the smart reporting system would then suggest a trendline based onmultivariate analysis of the products in order to be able to determinethe degree of cross-product correlation.

[0085] Push marketing component 296 parallels automatic interfacecustomization. The services and products a user selects reveal personalpreferences. The profile of the user compared against the profiles overtime of other users reveal areas of probable future interest andfall-offs in areas of current interest. Combining these two makes itpossible to custom-tailor marketing to a specific user while the abilityto customize the interface makes it possible to deliver this marketingcost-effectively. The net effect is two-fold: authorized users areinformed in a targeted and time-efficient way of new products andservices that are likely of interest to them; authorized users whose useof a specific product has begun to fall off can be targeted forspecialized marketing, e.g., additional education, incentives, etc.; aswith other features of the learning engine 236, at least some of thepush marketing functions are implemented through the rules processor.

[0086] Automatic rule updates component 298 can be based on a variety offactors. A rules engine of various embodiments of the present inventionis capable of understanding min, max, trend, growth percentage, timeperiods, min/max per period, prescriber decile, prescriber conversion ofsample to prescription rate, therapeutic class interchange (e.g.,allowing unused samples in one class to be transferred to a more popularclass) and similar behavior-based metrics.

[0087] Manual rules update component 299 is the interface by whichpharma or fulfillment houses can control the rules component 272. Eachpharma and fulfillment house has some level of control over how and towhom its samples are dispensed. This interface allows the pharma orfulfillment house to establish and maintain those rules. If the pharmaor fulfillment house allows it, a rule initially set up using the manualrules update can be updated by the automatic rules update component 298.For example, a manual rule might say “a prescriber is allowed todispense up to 10 samples of this drug in a 30-day period.” Thisrequires the pharma/fulfillment house to periodically review the rule toensure quantities and time periods are current. On the other hand, thepharma/fulfillment house could set up an automatically updating rulethat says “prescribers are allowed to dispense up to 20% more samplesper 30-day period than in the prior 30 period subject to a maximum of 50samples.” The latter rule is dynamic: it adapts to prescriber behaviorby allowing the prescriber to increase use of samples without explicitlyrequiring a manual rule update.

[0088]FIGS. 3A-3M illustrate a method 300 for orchestrating drug samplepromotional campaigns. For clarity purposes, the following descriptionof the method 300 makes references to various elements illustrated inconnection with the promotional orchestration engine 230 (FIGS. 2B-2F).From a start block, the method 300 proceeds to a set of method steps302, defined between a continuation terminal (“terminal A”) and an exitterminal (“terminal B”). The set of method steps 302 describes that auser requests a service, such as ordering physical samples, via theservices engine 232.

[0089] From terminal A (FIG. 3B), the method 300 proceeds to block 302where the method receives a request to access a service component238-260 with data from either a user 202-208 or a channel, such aschannels 218. Next, at block 304, the method 300 activates the desiredservice component to service the request. The activated servicecomponent forwards the request to access the service component and datato the analysis engine 234. See block 306. The method 300 then entersthe exit terminal B. From the exit terminal B (FIG. 3A), the method 300proceeds to a set of method steps 304, defined between a continuationterminal (“terminal C”) and an exit terminal (“terminal D”). The set ofmethod steps 304 describes the ways in which the analysis engine recordsinformation and determines a set of rules exist to govern the requestedservice by the user.

[0090] From terminal C (FIG. 3C), the method 300 proceeds to decisionblock 314 where a test is made to determine whether the rules need to beaccessed. If the answer is NO to the test at decision block 314, themethod 300 proceeds to block 316 where the method 300 determines thedesired analysis component and activates the analysis component. Themethod 300 then proceeds to the exit terminal C. If the answer to thetest at decision block 314 is YES, another test is performed at decisionblock 318 to determine whether interactive rules need to be applied. Ifthe answer to the test at decision block 318 is NO, the method 300proceeds to another continuation terminal (“terminal C8”). Otherwise,the answer to the test at decision block 318 is YES, and the method 300proceeds to yet another continuation terminal (“terminal C1”).

[0091] From terminal C1 (FIG. 3D), the method 300 proceeds to block 320,where the method 300 obtains one or more rules for a specific drug name,dosage, and form. A test is performed at decision block 322 to determinewhether such rules exist. If the answer is NO to the test at decisionblock 322, the method 300 obtains one or more rules for a specific drugname and dosage. See block 324. The method continues at decision block326 where another test is performed to determine whether such rulesexist. If the answer is also NO to the test at decision block 326, themethod 300 progresses to decision block 328 where as yet another test isexecuted to determine whether there is a rule for a specific drug name.If the answer is NO to the test at decision block 328, the methodproceeds to another continuation terminal (“terminal A1”). If the answerto the tests at decision blocks 322-328 is YES, the method 300 proceedsto another continuation terminal (“terminal C2”).

[0092] From terminal A1 (FIG. 3B), the method 300 receives the resultsof the execution of rules, if any, and data. See block 308. At block310, the method 300 sends orders for drug samples to a fulfillment house228. The method 300 then sends a sample prescription request (electronicvoucher) to an electronic prescribing hub. See block 312. The method 300then continues to another continuation terminal (“terminal F”). Fromterminal F (FIG. 3A), the method 300 terminates execution.

[0093] From terminal C2 (FIG. 3E), the rules processor sorts the rulesand their condition into a sequence by priority order. See block 330.The method 300 proceeds to decision block 332 where a test is performedto determine whether the rule is the default rule. If the answer to thetest at decision block 332 is YES, the method 300 executes the actionassociated with the default rule. See block 334. The method 300 thencontinues to another continuation terminal (“terminal C7”). If theanswer to the test at decision block 332 is NO, the method 300 sets each“AND-OK” flag to True and each “OR-OK” flagged to False. See block 336.The method 300 then summarizes the data for the user. See block 338. Themethod 300 then progresses toward another continuation terminal(“terminal C3”).

[0094] From terminal C3 (FIG. 3F), the method 300 tests the conditionusing the fields specified in the condition record or executes theexternal test module. See block 340. A test is performed at decisionblock 342 to determine whether the answer to the test of the conditionis True. If the answer is YES, the method 300 sets the “OR-OK” flag toTrue if it is an OR condition. See block 344. The method 300 proceedsthen to another continuation terminal (“terminal C4”). If the answer tothe test at decision block 342 is NO, the method 300 sets the “AND-OK”flag to true if it is an AND condition. See block 346. The method 300then continues to terminal C4.

[0095] From terminal C4 (FIG. 3G), the method 300 proceeds to decisionblock 348 where a test is performed to determine whether all conditionshave been evaluated. If the answer is NO to the test at decision block348, another continuation terminal (“terminal C5”) is entered by themethod 300. From terminal C5 (FIG. 3E), the method 300 loops back toblock 338 where the above-described processing steps are repeated.Otherwise, the answer to the test at decision block 348 is YES, and themethod 300 logically ends the “AND-OK” and “OR-OK” flags together. Seeblock 350. The method 300 then proceeds to decision block 352 where atest is performed to determine whether the logic result is True. If theanswer to the test at decision block 352 is YES, the method 300 executesan action associated with a rule. See block 354. If the answer to thetest at decision block 352 is NO, the method 300 continues at anothercontinuation terminal (“terminal C7”).

[0096] From terminal C7 (FIG. 3H), the method 300 proceeds to decisionblock 356 where a test is made to determine whether there are more rulesto evaluate. If the answer is YES, the method continues to anothercontinuation terminal (“terminal C6”). From terminal C6 (FIG. 3E), themethod 300 loops back to block 336 where the above-described processingsteps are repeated. If the answer to the test at decision block 356 isNO, the method 300 continues to terminal A1 where the method loops backto block 308 and the above-described processing steps are repeated. Fromterminal C8 (FIG. 3I), the method generates a unique cycle identifier.See block 358. The method 300 then selects a set of batch rules andsorts the rules in order of priority. See block 360. The method 300 thencontinues at another continuation terminal (“terminal C9”).

[0097] From terminal C9 (FIG. 3J), the method 300 proceeds to decisionblock 362 to perform a test and determine whether this rule is the firstEND rule. If the answer to decision block 362 is YES, the method 300summarizes and places into an END record set all prescriber identifiersthat meet this rule. See block 364. The method 300 then continues atanother continuation terminal (“terminal C12”). If the answer to thetest at decision block 362 is NO, the method 300 proceeds to anotherdecision block where another test is performed to determine whether thisrule is the second or subsequent END rule. If the answer is YES to thetest at decision block 366, the method 300 summarizes and selects arecord set matching the criteria for the prescribers. See block 368. Themethod 300 then continues to terminal C12. If the answer to the test atdecision block 366 is NO, the method 300 proceeds to anothercontinuation terminal (“terminal C10”).

[0098] From terminal C10 (FIG. 3K), the method 300 continues to decisionblock 370 where a test is made to determine whether it is the first ORrule. If the answer is YES to the test at decision block 370, the method300 summarizes and places into an OR record set all prescriberidentifiers that meet this rule. See block 372. The method progresses toterminal C12. If the answer to the test at decision block 370 is NO, themethod 300 determines whether it is the second or subsequent OR rule.See decision block 374. If the answer is YES, the method 300 summarizesand appends to the OR record set the results of a query matching thecriteria for the prescribers. See block 376. Otherwise, the answer tothe test at decision block 374 is NO, and the method 300 continues toterminal C12.

[0099] From terminal C11 (FIG. 3L), the method 300 selects the distinctprescriber identifiers from the OR record set and uses the set toreplace the current OR record set. See block 378. The method 300continues to terminal C12, which flows to decision block 380 where atest is made to determine whether there are more rules. If the answer tothe test at decision block 380 is YES, the method 300 proceeds toterminal C9 where it loops back to decision block 362 and theabove-described processing steps are repeated. If the answer to the testat decision block 380 is NO, the method 300 selects all prescriberidentifiers from the OR set which are contained in the AND set. Seeblock 382. For each selected prescriber identifier, the method performsthe actions associated with the rule using the cycle identifier. Seeblock 384. The method 300 proceeds to terminal A1 to loop back to block308 where the above-described processing steps are repeated.

[0100] From terminal D, the method 300 proceeds to a set of method steps306 defined between a continuation terminal (“terminal E”) and theterminal F. The set of method steps 306 describes the process by whichthe learning engine adapts the promotional orchestration engine tocorrespond to usage of users.

[0101] From terminal E (FIG. 3M), the method 300 receives profileinformation from the analysis engine 234. See block 386. The method 300receives pharma rules and fulfillment house rules, and channelinformation. See block 388. The method 300 causes the learning engine toadapt. See block 390. At block 390, the method 300 preferably executessteps 358 (FIG. 31) to step 384 (FIG. 3L) so as to adapt the promotionalorchestration engine 230. The method 300 then customizes variousservices components 238-260 to enliven the information presented tousers. See block 392. The method 300 then updates the rules in theanalysis engine 234. See block 394. The method 300 then continues toterminal F, where it terminates execution.

[0102] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changescan be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A system for promotingpharmaceutical drugs, comprising: a computer-implemented drug closet fora prescriber, the computer-implemented drug closet displaying a numberof drug samples available to the prescriber to distribute to a patient;and a promotional orchestration engine for responding to a request bythe prescriber to distribute a drug sample to the patient via thecomputer-implemented drug closet, the promotional orchestration enginereplenishing the number of drug samples in the computer-implemented drugcloset according to a set of rules for distributing drug samples to theprescriber.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising recruiting Webservices for executing the set of rules to discover the prescriber as acandidate for receiving drug samples, the Web services being capable ofinteracting with the prescriber when the prescriber is logged on to anon-line portal to recruit the prescriber to order the drug samples. 3.The system of claim 1, further comprising a computer-implemented drugcloset for a health plan, the computer-implemented drug closet includingdrugs drug samples, information, and supplies.
 4. The system of claim 1,further comprising an electronic voucher that is generated when theprescriber selects a drug sample from his computer-implemented drugcloset to provide to the patient, the electronic voucher beingautomatically sent to a pharmacy directly or via an electronicprescribing system for processing so as to distribute the drug sample tothe patient by the pharmacy and receiving financial reimbursementthrough the pharmacy.
 5. The system of claim 1, further comprising acustomization component for customizing the drug samples in thecomputer-implemented drug closet depending on the preferences and thebehaviors of the prescriber over time in using the computer-implementeddrug closet.
 6. A system for orchestrating drug sample distribution,comprising: a services engine for fulfilling transaction requests by aprescriber to access services; an analysis engine for executing a set ofrules associated with a service requested by the prescriber, the set ofrules defining whether the prescriber can receive a particular drugsample, its dosage, and its form; and a learning engine for adapting theservices in the services engine and the set of rules in the analysisengine for customizing information associated with services accessed bythe prescriber so that the information appears as if it werepersonalized to the prescriber.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein theservices engine includes an inventory management service for managing acomputer-implemented drug closet.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein theservices engine includes a representative visit scheduling service thatallows the prescriber to request a visit from a sales representative. 9.The system of claim 6, wherein the services engine includes a phsyicalsamples, vouchers, e-coupons service for authorizing the prescriber toprovide drug samples to patients.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein theservices engine includes an e-learning link service to provide on-lineeducation regarding a particular therapeutic drug.
 11. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the services engine includes patient assistance serviceto facilitate drug programs for indigent or low-income patients.
 12. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein the services engine includes pre-enrollservices to enroll a number of prescribers to the system at once. 13.The system of claim 6, wherein the services engine includesrepresentative services to assist sales representatives with planningsales visits with the prescriber.
 14. The system of claim 6, wherein theservices engine includes pharma services for reporting trends andbehaviors of the prescriber to the pharma.
 15. The system of claim 6,wherein the services engine includes a knowledge base service forallowing the prescriber to search for medical information.
 16. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein the services engine includes apersonalization/customization service for allowing the prescriber tocustomize a service that he is using.
 17. The system of claim 6, whereinthe services engine includes a patient education service that allows thepatient to access education material regarding how to begin a drugregimen by printing such material or receiving it via common carrierdelivery.
 18. The system of claim 6, wherein the services engineincludes recruiting services that allow a pharmaceutical company toinitiate a recruiting campaign to attract prescribers to prescribe adrug.
 19. The system of claim 6, wherein the analysis engine includes ausage component for tracking sampling activities of the prescriber. 20.The system of claim 6, wherein the analysis engine includes a samplesvs. prescription component for correlating drug sampling activities toprescribing behavior.
 21. The system of claim 6, wherein the analysisengine includes a rules component for containing the set of rules, therules component executing the set of rules to determine whether theservice requested by the prescriber is accessible.
 22. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the analysis engine includes a prescriber preferencescomponent for tracking preferences of the prescriber in using thesystem.
 23. The system of claim 6, wherein the analysis engine includesa health plan preferences component for tracking the drug preferences ofa health plan.
 24. The system of claim 6, wherein the analysis engineincludes a electronic authorization and authentication component foranalyzing and validating electronic, digital and/or digitizedsignatures.
 25. The system of claim 6, wherein the analysis engineincludes a fraud analysis component for identifying fraudulent sampling.26. The system of claim 6, wherein the analysis engine includes aninferential analysis component for providing analysis of trend andprofiling data.
 27. The system of claim 6, wherein the analysis engineincludes a prescriber profiles component for providing demographic andprofessional information regarding the prescriber.
 28. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the learning engine includes a recruiting profilingcomponent for optimization of the process of recruiting prescribers fordrug sampling.
 29. The system of claim 6, wherein the learning engineincludes an automatic interface customization component for customizinga user interface based on what the prescriber has done and is allowed todo.
 30. The system of claim 6, wherein the learning engine includes ademand list component that tracks the desire of prescribers for acertain drug.
 31. The system of claim 6, wherein the learning engineincludes a statistics component that adjust statistics based on theamount of data that is available.
 32. The system of claim 6, wherein thelearning engine includes a reporting component that provides reports tothe pharmaceutical customer.
 33. The system of claim 6, wherein thelearning engine includes a push marketing component that customizes amarketing campaign to prescribers.
 34. The system of claim 6, whereinthe learning engine includes an automatic rules update component forupdating the set of rules.
 35. The system of claim 6, wherein thelearning engine includes a manual rules update component for providingan interface through which a pharma can control changes to the set ofrules.
 36. A method for orchestrating a drug sample promotionalcampaign, comprising: receiving a request by a user to access a service;recording the request by an analysis engine, the analysis enginedeterming a set of rules for governing the service as requested by theuser; and adapting a promotional orchestration engine to respond to thebehaviors and preferences of the user.
 37. The method of claim 36,wherein the act of determining includes determining the set of rules asinteractive rules when the request is by a prescriber for samples ore-samples.
 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the act of determiningthe set of rules as interactive rules returns a quantity of allowablenumber of drug samples as a response to the request by the prescriber.39. The method of claim 36, wherein the act of determining includesdetermining the set of rules as batch rules when an interval of time hasexpired.
 40. The method of claim 39, wherein the act of determining theset of rules as batch rules customizes a user interface based on thebehaviors and preferences of the prescriber.
 41. A computer-readablemedium having computer-executable instructions stored there on forperforming a method of orchestrating a drug sample promotional campaign,the method comprising: receiving a request by a user to access aservice; recording the request by an analysis engine, the analysisengine determining a set of rules for governing the service as requestedby the user; and adapting a promotional orchestration engine to respondto the behaviors and preferences of the user.
 42. The computer-readablemedium of claim 41, wherein the act of determining includes determiningthe set of rules as interactive rules when the request is by aprescriber for samples or e-samples.
 43. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 42, wherein the act of determining the set of rules as interactiverules returns a quantity of allowable number of drug samples as aresponse to the request by the prescriber.
 44. The computer-readablemedium of claim 41, wherein the act of determining includes determiningthe set of rules as batch rules when an interval of time has expired.45. The computer-readable medium of claim 44, wherein the act ofdetermining the set of rules as batch rules customizes a user interfacebased on the behaviors and preferences of the prescriber.